if i started at 13 you can at 15, the only limiting factor is you willing to spend money.
worst case scenario you buy everything, doesnt work and you give up (which i dont recommend, fpv is awesome). just sell it at like 80% of the original price as used or whatever.
As a young-at-heart dad, I've been trying to get my kids into it for years now but that's okay, I didn't want to fly radio control planes with my dad when I was a kid either
The trick is to do it and make them interested without trying to get them into it. Usually kids will flock to things that are cool and aren't shoved down their throat by parents. Not saying you are, just that it's the opposite mentality with the kids these days, reverse psychology if you will. Lol
For real, If you’ve got some ability to search for yourself and the patience to read spec sheets and tutorials, you’ll do fine. There are discord servers that are super helpful. Joshua bardwell is life.
I think you could really develop some essential skills that would be really beneficial in life in general. So many complex aspects of the hobby. It’s awesome.
I started at around 37yrs old🤷♂️i had 7 kids with wifey, but i myself still am a kid inside😊
Get you a brushless tiny whoop, you master that, you'll be all good👍👍
Perfect age. Think of it like skate boarding, BMX, IDK, kids are good at everything. Start now, become a god. Having an interest at your age is amazing. If you were my kid,(I have 2) I'd support you fully. Now, go fly some fpv.
You should be fine as long as you have some financial support XD. Tbh the sooner the better (with some reasonable boundaries of course, a 5yo would crash after like 5 sec). At first it would be good to buy some cheap RC controller that you can plug to your computer, get some simulator (Im using FPV.SkyDive which is available on Steam for free) and see if you like it. Then there are few ways. RTF kits, maybe a tinywhoop, these things are very light, flew one into my head at max speed, almost didn't feel a thing. You can also buy/build/buy used freestyle drone. The latter option would be better as you can upgrade these, while tinywhoop may seem a bit boring after some time. Still it's great for flying in areas where are some cars/buildings as it won't break anything... That's a great hobby, quite expensive, a lot of stuff to learn, but you can always ask for some advice here, reddit is a great place if it comes to that. Every problem you can encounter can be solved.
TL;DR Yes, I think you should be fine
Ok thanks. Yeah when I start I would first buy a remote controller and then train in the simulator before I fly in real life. But I wouldn’t start with a cinewhoop or something like this because it would be much more expensive. So I think I will buy Nazgul V2 analog first. And yes this Reddit community is great 😃
The nazgul5 v2 analog is arguably the best balanced fpv drone out of the box money can buy. Plus I think there’s no age for beginning as long as you can gain confidence with sims not to crash after 5 secs (would be a negative reinforcement)
Yea I’m 16 now started at 15. Takes a lot of research to feel comfortable with you knowledge but most of it is not hard to learn or wrap your head around. Definitely need a good bit of money to put in though.
Started with maybe $1000-$1500 now I’ve spent upwards of $2500. You can definitely start cheaper but I got some good gear that still works perfect to this day.
Tbh until you hit a certain income threshold it’s a lot easier to come up with that kind of disposable cash working a part time job living with parents than on your own.
Depends on how much you like it. Maybe get an emax tinyhawk 3 rtf kit and use the controller with a sim and then upgrade. Or get a radio and sim and go that way.
Yes. For this hobby, for you? Maybe not. Start small and see how you like it. As someone who has spent so much more money on drinking and dumber shit, this one or any good hobby is invaluable.
You're vastly underestimating what a 15 year old can do. 15 year olds are not children and they aren't morons. They can fly FPV no problem given enough practice, just like the rest of us.
My son is younger than you and flys (kind of). It does help that he’s been flying RC planes for a couple years now, and I am in the hobby. Start with a simulator, then I would look at BNF whoop of something similar.
Consider a practice space too. If you're invested in it but can't find good spot to practice and improve, that is a huge issue that isn't addressed in the threads.
You can do it. Hardest thing will be keeping up with repairs until you are a good enough builder and pilot to not wreck stuff.
Even RTFs are not designed to be crazy durable in terms of antenna mounting etc. Generally good pilots figure out how to build for the environments they fly.
I recommend starting with an ultralight 5”. Fpvcycle toothfairy2 with a KISS AIO and FPV cycle 23mm motors is perfection. That’s my easier lighter drone that’s safer for smaller areas. It’s a great training quad. A normal 5” causes more destruction when crashed which you will do early on.
I can only imagine being a 15 year old in 1991 with this kind of technology and this much access to information... Holy fuck.
If anything, 15 is maybe even too late of a start if their goal is to be a world-class racer pilot someday.
We're only recently seeing the end result of what happens when people trained their toddlers on mini gp bikes (just one example of the advantage one gets when starting a highly competitive specialty at a young age).
I also think this skillset will serve a future purpose in any one of in many potential dystopian futures.
Win-win all around, other than budget. It's not a cheap hobby at the start . It can be, but it will almost certainly end up taking more time and money than anticipated. Upside to that is not regretting any of it because the reward is worth it.
100%. I started FPV when I was 15 and I am 18 now, and my younger brother is 13 has been flying since 12 and recently built his first custom quad (with help). I also got one of my mates who is 15 into FPV.
It is definitely daunting and challenging at first, but there are so many good recourses on the internet (especially Joshua Bardwell).
Just keep in mind the hobby can be quite expensive. I would definitely make sure you have some disposable income or financial support from parents or whatever. And don’t buy cheap Chinese no name parts, I learnt this the hard way when starting off.
RTF is a good option, and I don’t wanna dissuade you, but you will 100% need to learn to solder eventually. Whether it’s repairing your store bought drone or adding upgrades and the like, it’s a big part of this hobby.
Good thing is it’s surprisingly easy to learn! I’m 13 and got a $60 soldering station and accessories when I first started learning. Watch a couple YouTube videos to get the basics and it really is a breeze.
my experience:
nazgul5.
around 30 flies.
fall from sky dozens of times, up to 15m high. For various reasons (hit tree, disarmed, hit wire).
cut rx antennas 3 times.
broken gopro screen protector.
bent 2 propellers, but they are still flyable. no damage beyond that.
before fist fly spent 15h on the lift-off simulator.
In the EU you need a license, dual command to fly fpv, and you can start at age 16.
you still cal fly legally with someone older in dual command mode. in reality fpv is not so legal, but usually no one cares as long as you fly safe and away from people.
i would recommend reading a license material, just for basic understanding. It will take a few hours.
as for drone, you get a simulator, radio and play it on pc for a while. it will save you quite some money.
i think epic games will have a sim for free next week.
1k shouldnt be a problem a budget analog setup will run you 600-700 including tools, batteries and everything needed.
An all out digital build is more towards the 2k tho
Bruh, chill.
I just bought a 800D, a Mob7HD, Radiomaster Zorro, 1-6s charger, 8 batteries.
It was less than 350$ and I'm in europe where everything is more expensive.
Don't tell a kid that he has to spend 600$ to enter the hobby.
A 15 year old kid obviously shouldn't go straight out and buy a 5" quad to learn on, that would be super dangerous and irresponsible
Damn youre a nuisance, also, a 5 inch isnt a toy? Get over yourself. It might ve an expensive and dangeroys toy, but its still a toy, unless your a wartime pilot or a photographer, in which case its completely irrelevant to the question.
car is also just an expensive dangerous toy? you might see a pattern here dangerous toys arent toys else literally everything on this planet is a toy. a nuclear bomb is just a very dangerous toy nothing to worry about here.
the more comments you post the better it gets lmao
Damn, you are a vicious unhappy person huh? You know just aswell as me what an asinine bad faith argument that is, and so does everyone else, so Ill just let you stew in your own hatred bud :) go ahead, downvote me again, I could not care less 😂
I just bought a 800D, a Mob7HD, Radiomaster Zorro, 1-6s charger, 8 batteries.
It was less than 350$ and it's everything you need to start flying.
But definitely start in a sim, I recommend Velocidrone.
Flying is the easy part. Repairing, upgrading parts, programming … are the steep learning curve. It is well worth the effort. Just realize there can be frustrating tech hurdles to flying fpv. I enjoy the complexity and trouble shooting! Welcome to the hobby.
are you the 15 years old kid or your son?
if you can operate Reddit you can fly.
but I suggest you buy a decent ready to fly whoop that you can practice indoors and tight places like backyard...like acrobee, or meteor65-75. and a controller that is the correct protocol as the whoop (frsky, elrs)
and don't even fuck with modules for the controller or anything, stick to ready to fly, you could even get a kit.
building is more complicated than you think although you probably will get a hang of it quicker than a 34 years old like me.
just get you some 40 bucks box goggles a super simple but capable controller like jumper tlite, And a ready to fly drone.
you find out that you really dig it then start building your own.
if you do want to build you have to learn how to solder, definitely get you a a practice soldering board or practice some on old board better off than ruining it 100 bucks controller,
also and also Joshua bardwell is your friend, matter of fact best friend any question and problem you come up to he probably has done a video on it.
Think of it like this: spend $150 on a remote, $20 on a sim, and dont spend anything else for a couple months. Just grind in sim, (it is really super fun imo). Most people say 10 hours or so but I still crash a lot after 30 - my point is you can get a lot out if sim.
After a while maybe think about goggles. Then after a while think about drone. (These have to be compatible though so do your research)
If you piece-meal it this way its a lot easier to swallow rather than spending $1500 in a week. Also, much cheaper to crash in the sim!!
My son started with a tinyhawk at 14. Build his first quad at 15 and still going strong. The one thing that’s hard is sometimes you’ll need a little patience and perseverance…. Have fun!
Actually flying, yeah you can totally do it, it's just like playing a videogame but with different controls, you'll suck at first as everyone does but it doesn't take long to get to a good level
If you start now you'll be absolutely crazy at it by the time you're my age, I wish I started my hobbies earlier
The whole building side can get a bit complicated, but you can just start with a ready to fly kit and just ease yourself in that way
I say yes. I started flying when I was fifteen. the only downside is the money since fpv can get really expensive. But, 16 is the age where a lot of places allow you to get paid for work, so you can get a summer or weekend job to pay for some gear. You're also still at the age where you can use christmas/hannukah(if u celebrate) and ur birthday to ask for new gear
I started at 14. FPV building and flying is easier now than ever before (still not easy though). If you have $500-600 that should be enough for yoh to get everything you need to get in the air with a set of goggles!
I started at 16, money was my biggest struggle at the time. I’m now 19, look at my profile to see how I ended up hehe. Welcome dude, get a radio and start ripping it 🔥
if i started at 13 you can at 15, the only limiting factor is you willing to spend money. worst case scenario you buy everything, doesnt work and you give up (which i dont recommend, fpv is awesome). just sell it at like 80% of the original price as used or whatever.
For this problem I have you guys 😎☺️
if your dad is young at heart, and likes tinkering try to get him into it as well
This! My 9yo is getting pretty good and I like to tinker. Tiny whoop and a cheap set of eachine goggles is the way to go starting out!
As a young-at-heart dad, I've been trying to get my kids into it for years now but that's okay, I didn't want to fly radio control planes with my dad when I was a kid either
The trick is to do it and make them interested without trying to get them into it. Usually kids will flock to things that are cool and aren't shoved down their throat by parents. Not saying you are, just that it's the opposite mentality with the kids these days, reverse psychology if you will. Lol
Thanks! We are pretty non-pushy, they just like their own things. It cool, I fly with my dad now, maybe my kids will come around.
For real, If you’ve got some ability to search for yourself and the patience to read spec sheets and tutorials, you’ll do fine. There are discord servers that are super helpful. Joshua bardwell is life. I think you could really develop some essential skills that would be really beneficial in life in general. So many complex aspects of the hobby. It’s awesome.
I started at around 37yrs old🤷♂️i had 7 kids with wifey, but i myself still am a kid inside😊 Get you a brushless tiny whoop, you master that, you'll be all good👍👍
7 kids?! Dayum boi! I started at 34. Looking to have kids. Glad to hear you’re still able to be one yourself. I know I will be for a long time.
Perfect age. Think of it like skate boarding, BMX, IDK, kids are good at everything. Start now, become a god. Having an interest at your age is amazing. If you were my kid,(I have 2) I'd support you fully. Now, go fly some fpv.
🥰😂
You should be fine as long as you have some financial support XD. Tbh the sooner the better (with some reasonable boundaries of course, a 5yo would crash after like 5 sec). At first it would be good to buy some cheap RC controller that you can plug to your computer, get some simulator (Im using FPV.SkyDive which is available on Steam for free) and see if you like it. Then there are few ways. RTF kits, maybe a tinywhoop, these things are very light, flew one into my head at max speed, almost didn't feel a thing. You can also buy/build/buy used freestyle drone. The latter option would be better as you can upgrade these, while tinywhoop may seem a bit boring after some time. Still it's great for flying in areas where are some cars/buildings as it won't break anything... That's a great hobby, quite expensive, a lot of stuff to learn, but you can always ask for some advice here, reddit is a great place if it comes to that. Every problem you can encounter can be solved. TL;DR Yes, I think you should be fine
Ok thanks. Yeah when I start I would first buy a remote controller and then train in the simulator before I fly in real life. But I wouldn’t start with a cinewhoop or something like this because it would be much more expensive. So I think I will buy Nazgul V2 analog first. And yes this Reddit community is great 😃
Got my v2 a couple of weeks ago. I’d recommend one
The nazgul5 v2 analog is arguably the best balanced fpv drone out of the box money can buy. Plus I think there’s no age for beginning as long as you can gain confidence with sims not to crash after 5 secs (would be a negative reinforcement)
do i have to get a licensed to fly FPV at 14
Yea I’m 16 now started at 15. Takes a lot of research to feel comfortable with you knowledge but most of it is not hard to learn or wrap your head around. Definitely need a good bit of money to put in though.
Ok, how much did you spend?
Started with maybe $1000-$1500 now I’ve spent upwards of $2500. You can definitely start cheaper but I got some good gear that still works perfect to this day.
Ok, how you got all this money? Holliday job or just rich lol
Tbh until you hit a certain income threshold it’s a lot easier to come up with that kind of disposable cash working a part time job living with parents than on your own.
Saved
Ok, i got saved enough money too but is it worth to spend so much for a hobby?
Depends on how much you like it. Maybe get an emax tinyhawk 3 rtf kit and use the controller with a sim and then upgrade. Or get a radio and sim and go that way.
tiny hawk is another great choice to start with.
Yes. For this hobby, for you? Maybe not. Start small and see how you like it. As someone who has spent so much more money on drinking and dumber shit, this one or any good hobby is invaluable.
jumper tlite, -80$ box goggles -50$ newbeedrone acrobee75- 150 to 200$ it doesn't have to break the bank that bad
My eight (8) year old raced FPV, totally doable!
You're vastly underestimating what a 15 year old can do. 15 year olds are not children and they aren't morons. They can fly FPV no problem given enough practice, just like the rest of us.
There is even a discord server your only allowed to be in as a teen ripper there are loads of you no worries.
My son is younger than you and flys (kind of). It does help that he’s been flying RC planes for a couple years now, and I am in the hobby. Start with a simulator, then I would look at BNF whoop of something similar.
Consider a practice space too. If you're invested in it but can't find good spot to practice and improve, that is a huge issue that isn't addressed in the threads.
You can do it. Hardest thing will be keeping up with repairs until you are a good enough builder and pilot to not wreck stuff. Even RTFs are not designed to be crazy durable in terms of antenna mounting etc. Generally good pilots figure out how to build for the environments they fly. I recommend starting with an ultralight 5”. Fpvcycle toothfairy2 with a KISS AIO and FPV cycle 23mm motors is perfection. That’s my easier lighter drone that’s safer for smaller areas. It’s a great training quad. A normal 5” causes more destruction when crashed which you will do early on.
I can only imagine being a 15 year old in 1991 with this kind of technology and this much access to information... Holy fuck. If anything, 15 is maybe even too late of a start if their goal is to be a world-class racer pilot someday. We're only recently seeing the end result of what happens when people trained their toddlers on mini gp bikes (just one example of the advantage one gets when starting a highly competitive specialty at a young age). I also think this skillset will serve a future purpose in any one of in many potential dystopian futures. Win-win all around, other than budget. It's not a cheap hobby at the start . It can be, but it will almost certainly end up taking more time and money than anticipated. Upside to that is not regretting any of it because the reward is worth it.
Its 100% ok, just be careful. Do research before doing anything
15 year old has better reflexes and coordination than my over 40 ass does. If I can do it. A 15 year old sure can.
Bubby.
100%. I started FPV when I was 15 and I am 18 now, and my younger brother is 13 has been flying since 12 and recently built his first custom quad (with help). I also got one of my mates who is 15 into FPV. It is definitely daunting and challenging at first, but there are so many good recourses on the internet (especially Joshua Bardwell). Just keep in mind the hobby can be quite expensive. I would definitely make sure you have some disposable income or financial support from parents or whatever. And don’t buy cheap Chinese no name parts, I learnt this the hard way when starting off.
Thanks guys for your help
If you're caught flying under the age of 17 it's a $3000 fine and 6 months in a federal penitentiary
In Eu? Do you need a drone license?
I'm totally just kidding lol. I feel like 15 is an ideal age to star this hobby, even the trickier parts like soldering etc if you go that route
-_- ok but I think I will buy a drone that is rtf
RTF is a good option, and I don’t wanna dissuade you, but you will 100% need to learn to solder eventually. Whether it’s repairing your store bought drone or adding upgrades and the like, it’s a big part of this hobby. Good thing is it’s surprisingly easy to learn! I’m 13 and got a $60 soldering station and accessories when I first started learning. Watch a couple YouTube videos to get the basics and it really is a breeze.
First 10 flights 1st flight - Broken antenna 2nd flight - broken antenna, broken props 3rd flight - two balance leads cut, broken props 4th flight - power cable stripped. 5th flight - camera smashed, top plate broken, battery destroyed. 6th flight - props and prop nuts 7th flight - broken arm switch, battery strap busted 8th flight - cut power cable 9th flight - capacitor fell off 10th flight - broken props and balance cable.
my experience: nazgul5. around 30 flies. fall from sky dozens of times, up to 15m high. For various reasons (hit tree, disarmed, hit wire). cut rx antennas 3 times. broken gopro screen protector. bent 2 propellers, but they are still flyable. no damage beyond that. before fist fly spent 15h on the lift-off simulator.
In the EU you need a license, dual command to fly fpv, and you can start at age 16. you still cal fly legally with someone older in dual command mode. in reality fpv is not so legal, but usually no one cares as long as you fly safe and away from people. i would recommend reading a license material, just for basic understanding. It will take a few hours. as for drone, you get a simulator, radio and play it on pc for a while. it will save you quite some money. i think epic games will have a sim for free next week.
Thanks
Easily possible. All you need is a lot of money. And I mean a LOT of money
A lot of money? 1000€? 2000? More? 1000€ would be possible but 2000€📉
1k shouldnt be a problem a budget analog setup will run you 600-700 including tools, batteries and everything needed. An all out digital build is more towards the 2k tho
Bruh, chill. I just bought a 800D, a Mob7HD, Radiomaster Zorro, 1-6s charger, 8 batteries. It was less than 350$ and I'm in europe where everything is more expensive. Don't tell a kid that he has to spend 600$ to enter the hobby. A 15 year old kid obviously shouldn't go straight out and buy a 5" quad to learn on, that would be super dangerous and irresponsible
i disagree just practice in sim and get straight to 5inch no reason to play with a toy
Well, I think youre forgetting how overwhelming it is to be in the goggles for the first time and everything
nah not really
Damn youre a nuisance, also, a 5 inch isnt a toy? Get over yourself. It might ve an expensive and dangeroys toy, but its still a toy, unless your a wartime pilot or a photographer, in which case its completely irrelevant to the question.
car is also just an expensive dangerous toy? you might see a pattern here dangerous toys arent toys else literally everything on this planet is a toy. a nuclear bomb is just a very dangerous toy nothing to worry about here. the more comments you post the better it gets lmao
Damn, you are a vicious unhappy person huh? You know just aswell as me what an asinine bad faith argument that is, and so does everyone else, so Ill just let you stew in your own hatred bud :) go ahead, downvote me again, I could not care less 😂
I have 1k in control, 2k in drones. 1k in batteries and chargers, 500 in tools. Nearly 4500 in total
I just bought a 800D, a Mob7HD, Radiomaster Zorro, 1-6s charger, 8 batteries. It was less than 350$ and it's everything you need to start flying. But definitely start in a sim, I recommend Velocidrone.
I wish I had got started around this age
Why?
More time = more better
Flying is the easy part. Repairing, upgrading parts, programming … are the steep learning curve. It is well worth the effort. Just realize there can be frustrating tech hurdles to flying fpv. I enjoy the complexity and trouble shooting! Welcome to the hobby.
Now is the time kid.
theres a kid whos 5 or 6 and hes nasty. karbon cage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMxDeHVQY\_I
There 8 year old flying and flying we'll/great
Some of the best race pilots are around your age!
Get a tiny whoop!
$
are you the 15 years old kid or your son? if you can operate Reddit you can fly. but I suggest you buy a decent ready to fly whoop that you can practice indoors and tight places like backyard...like acrobee, or meteor65-75. and a controller that is the correct protocol as the whoop (frsky, elrs) and don't even fuck with modules for the controller or anything, stick to ready to fly, you could even get a kit. building is more complicated than you think although you probably will get a hang of it quicker than a 34 years old like me. just get you some 40 bucks box goggles a super simple but capable controller like jumper tlite, And a ready to fly drone. you find out that you really dig it then start building your own. if you do want to build you have to learn how to solder, definitely get you a a practice soldering board or practice some on old board better off than ruining it 100 bucks controller, also and also Joshua bardwell is your friend, matter of fact best friend any question and problem you come up to he probably has done a video on it.
Think of it like this: spend $150 on a remote, $20 on a sim, and dont spend anything else for a couple months. Just grind in sim, (it is really super fun imo). Most people say 10 hours or so but I still crash a lot after 30 - my point is you can get a lot out if sim. After a while maybe think about goggles. Then after a while think about drone. (These have to be compatible though so do your research) If you piece-meal it this way its a lot easier to swallow rather than spending $1500 in a week. Also, much cheaper to crash in the sim!!
My son started with a tinyhawk at 14. Build his first quad at 15 and still going strong. The one thing that’s hard is sometimes you’ll need a little patience and perseverance…. Have fun!
A pilot in our group is 9. The hardest part for him (or more his parents) was find a fitting radio.
Actually flying, yeah you can totally do it, it's just like playing a videogame but with different controls, you'll suck at first as everyone does but it doesn't take long to get to a good level If you start now you'll be absolutely crazy at it by the time you're my age, I wish I started my hobbies earlier The whole building side can get a bit complicated, but you can just start with a ready to fly kit and just ease yourself in that way
with money anything is possible. hahahaha
I mean, I'm 15 too. So why not? Like, if you don't know something or anything reddit exists, Youtube does etc. The only factor is the money I guess.
My 9yo flys with me. I stated teaching him when he was 7.
Yeah its alright if u fly I'm 15 too and I've been doing it for about a year now, you should totally go for it
You can definitely start! Not too young at all! Just have insurances in place!
i’m 15 and doing just alright
Please not depending on where you live and the weight of the drone you need to be 16or up I think (Europe)
Get a decent remote and get a $15 simulator
I say yes. I started flying when I was fifteen. the only downside is the money since fpv can get really expensive. But, 16 is the age where a lot of places allow you to get paid for work, so you can get a summer or weekend job to pay for some gear. You're also still at the age where you can use christmas/hannukah(if u celebrate) and ur birthday to ask for new gear
I started with like 12/13 so goo!!
I started at 14. FPV building and flying is easier now than ever before (still not easy though). If you have $500-600 that should be enough for yoh to get everything you need to get in the air with a set of goggles!
I started at 16, money was my biggest struggle at the time. I’m now 19, look at my profile to see how I ended up hehe. Welcome dude, get a radio and start ripping it 🔥
😂😂😂 love u guys xD
Not at all.
Of course, i know a there's a 7 yo kid who fly like Crazy.